Ryerson Art+Design Magazine (RADmag) was born out of a vision to create a medium of celebration, inspiration, and collaboration — to celebrate and showcase the work of students in Photography, Fashion, and Interior Design, to provide an outlet to inspire one another and the world at large, and aid in connecting students in these related visual disciplines.

Photography has been Ellie McLaren’s passion for as long as she can recall. In fact, she remembers the first picture she ever took. It was a beautiful misty morning hike in a grassy bog; her dad had his favourite psychedelic beer t-shirt on, and was limping down the trail with a cane from a torn hamstring.

She walked alongside with a disposable camera in hand, ready for action. Suddenly, her dad perked up and exclaimed that there was moose scat up ahead! He hobbled toward his new discovery and she knew this would be her first picture: a man, his moose droppings, and his cane, all proudly sponsored by Budweiser. She clicked the shutter and was hooked.

Though McLaren’s portraiture has certainly improved since her first day on the job, she finds herself less focused on people and more on everyday objects. She enjoys experimenting with isolation and integration of objects with their surroundings, while incorporating bright colours to draw the viewer’s eye.

Furthermore, she has begun to practice integrating design with image, treating the photograph as an object - one that can be repeated, spliced, stretched, and altered to ultimately move away from the original.

In the coming year, she hopes to integrate a higher degree of design into her portfolio.